Trump defenders - or Trump himself - will not survive history, but markets gave their opinion, and today was not good for bulls or Trump. What's interesting, is that it's not unfair to say the majority of market influencers lean right, but the lack of a favorable reaction to the rate cut would suggest disquiet, and run contrary to the bullishness markets have demonstrated for most of the summer. But we also have to accept that markets are apolitical, and you can't judge your investment decisions through the lense of being left or right. Small Caps had the worst of today's action. While the headlines will show a net gain, they won't show the nasty "gravestone" doji on higher volume. We have a 'sell' signal in the MACD that runs contrary to the 'buy' in On-Balance-Volume. If we see a gain into today's gravestone spike we will have a good chance of a negation in its bearish implication, but a loss tomorrow will spell trouble.

There wasn't a whole lot of change to indices, so today we will look at some of the other charts. One of the more interesting is the AAII Bullish/Bearish Sentiment Index. Earlier this year, we had the tariff sell off that killed investor sentiment, but what followed is the rally investors are still enjoying the benefits from today. If there is a concern, it's that investor sentiment is growing more bearish, in a manner similar to what we saw at the start of 2022. The chief difference is that in 2022, the S&P sold off for the rest of the year, but this year, markets have continued their advance; will things turn sour quickly?

Solid action for indices with many enjoying higher volume accumulation. The S&P has enjoyed some of the best action since the 2025 lows. Technicals are net positive, but on a weekly time frame there there was a relative shift towards Small Caps (Russell 2000).

Today was the kind of day that makes bulls happy. When you hear of traders beating the market it's thanks to days like today. Indices traded on higher volume accumulation with some able to mark new highs. The Russell 2000 ($WIM) maintained its bullish signal in On-Balance-Volume as the pending reversal in relative performance against the Nasdaq was stalled. Technicals remain net bullish with only On-Balance-Volume the weakest.

Im not going to say a whole lot because there hasn't been a big enough change in indices from the weekend to warrant another post. The Semiconductor Index is working a bullish bounce in technicals, despite doing little with price. There was a return in bullish technicals with CCI, +DI/-DI, Stochastics and Relative Strength all showing 'buy' triggers. Only the MACD remains on a 'sell' trigger, and when it switches, technicals will become net bullish. The Semiconductor Index is playing out a sideways pattern in price. Today's doji will have barely registered on anyone's radar, but with the return above moving averages it only leaves peak highs to break.

Bitcoin successfully bounced off support, broke out of its channel, and is hugging its 20-day MA in a manner that suggests it will break through this soon enough too. Technicals remain mostly on the bearish side of the ledger, with only a weak MACD 'buy' trigger (it's below the bullish zero line), but I do think this will eventually break higher - bringing technicals with it. The Russell 2000 ($IWM) was the exception to lead indices as it closed with a small doji on higher volume accumulation. Technicals remain net bullish and haven't waivered since the April low. Look for the rally to continue. The S&P ($SPX) and Nasdaq ($COMPQ) lost a little ground after a gap higher. Volume rose in confirmed distribution, but both indices have lost their initial bullish momentum from early summer and need a demand injection to get things going again; as things stand, both are neutral. The Semiconductor Index ($SOX) hasn't had the same success as the Nasd...

The week may not be over, but Bitcoin ($BTCUSD) looks to be finding support at its 20-week MA. The weekly chart is a better gauge of trend, but we need to watch for how 'sell' triggers in the MACD and On-Balance-Volume develop on this time frame.